Yarn winding machine



' H. R. CHILDS YARN WINDING MACHINE Oct. 13,1942

Filed Oct. 31, 1940 F": 4-. Prior 607* v HENRY R-BHILDS v lNV EN'TOR Patented a. is, 1 942 UNITED STATES PATENT-carrot:

Henry R. Childs, Kingsport, Eastman Kodak Company, corporation or New Jen-set Tenn, asslgnor to Rochester, N. Y., a

Application October 31, 1940, sci-1n a... 363,620 9 Claims. (Cl- 242-18 The present invention relates to yarn windin machines, and more-particularly to an improvement in the guides over"which t he yarn passes on its way to the winding cone.

0ne object of the invention is the provision in an apparatus of this class of yarn guides which are so shaped as to reduce to a minimum the area thereof engaged by the yarn during its movement through the apparatus.

A further object or the invention is the provision of yarn guides which are in the form of curved surfacesof small radii to provide substantially point supports for the moving yarn.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of yarn guides which maintain a substantially constant ratio of yarn tension on opvarious views indicate the posite sides of the guides irrespective of the type of yarn passing thereover. I

Still another object of the invention is the provision of small radius guides which provide a more positive control of the yarn tension during the winding of the cone, decrease the ditference of yarn tension when changing from a full to an empty supply bobbin, and also facilitate the building of straight, ringless cones even when bobbins are changed before the cone is finished.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of yarn guides of the class described which are simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture; can be readily applied to existing machines, and which are highly effective in use.

To these and other ends, the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevation view of a portion of a yarn winding machine, showing the relation thereto of yarn guides constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of a portion of: the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1, but on a larger scale than the latter, with parts in section and parts in elevation, showing the arrangement of the traverse guide assembly with the yarn guides 'constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a front'elevation view oi the traverse guide assembly illustrated in Fig. 2, showing the arrangement in relation to the various yarn u des; a d

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig.2 showing the arransement'oi the yarn meansot pulled vertically front face ii of the guide assembly in use prior to the present invention.-

Similar reference numerals throughout the same parts. The coning machine most commonly used for winding synthetic sists of a rotating spindle tube turns, a reciprocating yarn back and forth alon cry or the cone, various guides tension devices, stop motion, etc. A typical example of this type of machine is shown in Figs. 1 and 4, in which the cone of yarn- H is wound onto a paper tube 62 which is revolved in a clockwise direction by a spindle I! on which the tube is supported. In prior arrangements, the yarn is guided'onto the cone by a reciprocating button guide it, of the type best :shown in Fig. 4, which is connected by a traverse am it to a cam, not shown. The traversearm I5 is mounted in a slot in the traverse back II which is pivoted at it below the button guide in such a manner that it may move back as the cone builds up, allowing the curved button guide it to moonbut lightly pressed against the surface as is well known. The yarn is is through a tension gate 2!,

upon which the paper guide which moves the through a slub catcher 22, underneath the stop lever. 23, over a curved surface guide of large radius 26, mown as a slide arm, to the button guide it.

It will be noted from Fig. 1 that the yarn is is upward from the bobbin 28 and then after-passing over the various guides at various angles until, at the point where it is wound onto the cone it, it ,istraveling vertically downward. thus having changed its course 180 degrees.

in the prior constructions, button guide it has had a ii-shaped slot 25 formed therein, the base 2'! of the slot being shaped on anarc of a circle guides on the traverse such as porcelain, or

of relatively large radius, as clearly illustrated in Fig. t. From this figure it will be readily apparent that the yam'contacts the base 211 of the guide it throughout its entire length. The slide am it of prior devices is fixed tothe traverse back is and does not reciprocate with the button guide is. The yarn ll passes over the curved surface as oi the arm 24 while its: back and iorth along its. length with the mo on of the button guide. This reciprocating motion along the surface of the slide arm imparts'both a shearing and tensile stress to the yarn at that point. The button guide is made or any suitable material, case hardened polished filament yarn on to cones con-v the surface; or periph-- metal. The surface 25 of the arm 24, as well as the slot 26, of the button guide ll, are highly polished so as to reduce the friction of the moving yarn thereover. Thus the yarn, under the yarn.

Incon-ing ordinary yarn, no 'difliculty has been encountered which might be attributed to the yarn guides. Synthetic yarns are usually-given three to five twists or turns per inch before the coning operation. However, there has arisen re- I cently a demand for yarns having a lower twist;

for example, one and a quarter turns per inch or less. This material is used for various purposes where the amount of twist used is not important in order to efiect an economy in the production of the yarn. For example, for certain purposes, yarns containing very low twists (one-quarter to one-half turns per inch) may be used. This type of material would be suitable for plying with synthetic or natural fiber of a different type where additional twist would be inserted in the plying operation. 4

It has been found, however, that yarns containing low twists (less than two turns an inch) are difficult to cone on the commonly used type of machine, as described above. There is a tendency for some of the filaments to become separated from the main body of the strand, causing loops or broken filaments. These defects are carried on into the finished fabric causing inferior quality. In an eifort to improve this condition many things have been attempted; as for example, various changes in the lubricating treatment, of the yarn, but'none of these efforts have been successful.

-In practice it is customary to apply a given amount of tension to the yarn by loading or Welghting'the tension device. The amount of tension applied varies with the'denier, the hardness of the cone desired, and various other wellknown factors. A convenient means of measuring and controlling the tension is to insert a tensiometer between the tension gate 2| and the button guide It. It is desirable that the tension should be relatively high at the start of the cone, gradually decreased as'the cone builds up in order to compensate for the increasing speed. The tension that is measured before the button guide is not, however, the actual tension that exists at the point of winding or of application of the yarn to the cone H. The tension at that point may be measured by taking the end of the yarn vertically downward from the button guide I4, over a pulley or guide, not shown, and back up to the opposite side of the cone. A tensiometer, not shown, may now be inserted directly below the button guide, and this meter will'then indicate the tension that would ordinarily exist. at the point ofv application-of the yarn n the cone.

This method has been used to determine the increased tension encountered with various types of yarn passing over the traverse guide assembly whichconstitutes the button guide It and the guide 24. The tension gate 2| was set to give various predetermined tensioning values ahead of the button guide l4, and the corresponding tensions beyond the button guide were then noted. These ratios of tensioning after and before the button guide might be called the coefficient of friction of the yarn passing over the button guide assembly. As a result of the test,

it was found that this coefficient of friction varies widely with the type of yarn. Very surprisingly, this variation seemed to be a. function of twists in the yarn. That is, the lower the twists, the higher the coefllcient of friction encountered in passing'over the button guide assembly.

It was noted that yarns having three turns per inch or more, the coeflicient of friction was about 2.0, varying slightly above or below with luster. The coefficients of friction of low-twist yarns were, however, considerably higher, reaching in some instances to 5.0. It so happens that the yarn types having the greatest coefllcient of friction, low twist yarns, have given the most difficulty in the coming operation. It is logical to assume, therefore, that the damage done to thislow twist yarn in winding occurs at the button guide. Furthermore, any change in the shape of the button guide which would lessen the coefllcient of friction for low twist yarn would improve the quality of the yarn in-winding.

It was found that it was only necessary to change the shape of the curved surfaces of the traverse guide assembly, see Fig. 2, so that the arcs of contact with the yarn are reduced to a substantially small radii to accomplish this purpose. This change is clearly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. To secure this result, the bottom of the slot 28 of the button guide I was hollowed out to provide a sloping or inclined bottom 35, the apex 36 of which is positioned adjacent the curved face l8 of the button guide M, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. This apex is also in the form of a short curved surface of small radius over which the yarn l9 passes and which affords a substantially point support for the yarn adjacent the cone II, as will be later more fully explained. The traverse slide arm 24 has also been removed and replaced by a guide member, broadly designated by the numeral 31 of the shape best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. This new guide member is formed of small round wire, such as steel music wire, which may be surface hardened or plated, and has the ends 38 thereof secured to the traverse arm I5 by screws 39 or other suitablefastening means.

By means of this arrangement, the guide 31 will move as a unit with the button guide l4 during the yarn winding operation, thus eliminating the necessity of the yarn sliding along the length of the .guide as in prior constructions. The intermediate portion of the guide member 31 is formed with a U-shaped portion or throat 40 the bottom or base ll of which is positioned in lateral alignment with the inclined bottom 35 of the new button guide I, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The yarn IS in moving from the tension gate 2| to the button guide l4 passes over and is supported by the bottom ll of the guide member 31. As the latter is formed from wire of small radius, the yarn will engage the bottom 4| over only a relatively small area so that the bottom may be broadly considered as providing substantially a point support for the yarn as the latter passes over the guide member 31. Furthermore, the bottom 4| is rounded, as best shown in Fig. 3, so that the yarn may play back and forth across a small section of the bottom to thus prevent excessive wear.

This guide member 31' may be readily replaced in case of wear or breakage, as is apparent. The precise shape and location of the guide 31 are not critical so long as the guide forms substantially a point support for the yarn as it passes over this guide member, and also serves to guide the yarn toward tion is not encountered above, makes it necessary where the cone "one-half inch. At that lion withoutmaking it the button guide I in such, a direction that the yarn will engage the curved apex I in a direction substantially tangential thereto, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. By thus directing the yarn towards the button guide, the yarn engages the latter only at a point which is tangent to the curve of the apex 36, thus providing a point contact or support for the yarn adjacent the face l8, or the point of application of the yarn to the cone II, as will be readily apparent from an inspection of Fig. 2.

By means of these point supports, the coeffi- Q cient of friction of the assembly, as shown in Fig. 2, is much less than for the long radius guides previously used and shown in Fig. 4. Furthermore, the coeflicientof friction of this new arrangement is almost independent of the yarn twists, being relatively uniform for all types of yarn. In addition, the tension increase passing over such small radius guides isless thaneven the normal increase for the traditional type of long radius guides of prior machines-as illustrated in Fig. 4. The reason for this yarn behavior is not readily explainable, but it is reasonable to believe that the filaments of low twist yarn tend to separate in passing over the relatively long areas of contact commonly used in coning machines of the class illustrated in Fig. 4. The filamentsethat become separated from the strand tend to increase the friction by increasing the effective area of contact. The friction thus created tends to tear the group them into loops. Since the increased fricwith short radius guides of the present invention, a great-improvement should be expected in twist yarn 'wound'with them. improvement has been erating ohditions, and tive cones has been very materially reduced.

In addition to this remarkable improvement in quality which .has been obtained by theuse of Furthermo it has also been found that the tension is higher for a bobbin containing a small amount of yarn, and this difference is greatly magnified in passing over the button guide assembly. Since it is often necessary to change from an empty to a full bobbin before the cone is completed, there is a sudden shift in tension in the yarn. This sudden change invariably produces an unsightly ring at the point where the bobbin was changed, the disadvantages of which will be apparent to those in the art.

With the small guides of the present invention, it is possible to control the tension throughout the entire winding of the cone. The increased tension at the traverse guides is only about one-half as great as ments, and it is not necessary to relieve the tem sion at the tension gat 2| before the cone is finished. Although the initial tension is greater with the present form of guides, theflnal or effective tension is less, and this tension uniformly decreases as the cone fills up. Furthermore-the difference intension from a full to an empty cone is much less. These conditions facilitate the isolated filaments and the quality of the low.

This anticipatedverified under actual opthe percentage of deec'- these new small radlus guides, there is anotherdistinct advantage to be realized in the use of such an arrangement; namely..the control of tension. As mentioned above, it is desirable to start with a relatively high tension which gradually decreases with the increase of cone di-, ameter, or winding speed. This condition is necessaryin order to build a cone having straight ends whichare vertical to the axis of the cone. In practice. however, itis not always maintain this. condition.- derived from .two sources: device 2| which is controllable according to any predetermined setting with respect to the'size of the cone, and (2) the friction encountered in ballooning around the head of the bobbin 20. The latter increases and cannot be controlled. It happens, therefore. that it is not possible to obtain a uniform 'reduction in tension when coning low twist yarn over long radius guides of the type shown in Fig. '4. The high'coeificient of friction, as mentioned to remove-all tension from the gatell while the cone'is still small to prevent the final tension from becoming too high. As a result of tests, it was found that there is a sharpchange in has reached a depth of about point. even with the gate tension starts to increase due solely to the withdrawal tension.

possible to The tension must be (1) the gate tensionwith the speed of withdrawal the tension at-the pointthat point it is not possibleto' controlithe ten-" even greater than it is.

building of straight ringless cones even when bobbins are changed before the cone is finished.

While the above described improvements are particularly desirable and noticeable with low twist yarns, the application of small radius guides are not limited thereto. While the coning of high twist yam has always been satisfactory with prior guides; as shown in Fig. 4, considerable improvement in the quality of high twist yarns was also secured when small radius guides are used in connection with the coning thereof.

It is thus apparentthat the use of the small, radius guides of the present invention provides point supports for the yarn as it passes over the various guide members to thus materially reduce the friction of the yarn thereon. These guides also maintain a substantially constant ratio of yarntension on oppositesides of the button guide. and provide a more positive control for the yarn tension during the winding operation,

and finally, facilitate the building of straight, ringless cones which are highly desirable.

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to be understood that the invention idea may be carried out in a' number of ways. This application is therefore not to be limited to the precise details described, but-is intended to cover all variations and modifications, -thereof falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: 1

1. In a-yarn winTdin apparatus, the combination with a rotating winding cone on which may be wound in successive convolutions, of a traverse guide assembly mounted to reciprocate longitudinally of said cone to guide said-yarn thereon, and a curved surface; of small radius formed on saldassembly to provide a substantially point support for said yarn adjacent thepoint of ap-' plication of said yarn o'nsaid cone.

2. In a yarn winding apparatus,. tion with a rotating winding cone on which yarn may be wound in successive convolutions, of a traverse guide assembly mounted to reciprocate longitudinally of said cone to guide said. yarn thereon, a curvedsurfa'ce of small radius formed.

on said assembly adjacent said cone, and a guide 4 carried by said apparatus for directing said yarn toward said surface in a direction tangentiallyprovide a subthereof so that said surface will with prior arrange the combinastantially point support for said yarn adjacent said cone.

3. In a yarn winding apparatus, the combination with a rotating winding cone on which yam may be wound in successive convolutions, of a traverse guide assembly comprisin a button guide mounted to reciprocate longitudinally of said cone to guide the yarn thereon, a curved surface of small radius formed on said button adjacent the point of application of said yarn to said cone, and a guide carried by said apparatus and positioned above said surface to direct said yarn toward said surface in a'direction tangential thereto so as to engage the latter substantially only at a single point.

4. In a yarn winding apparatus, the combination with a rotating winding cone on which yarn may be wound in successive convolutions, of a traverse guide assembly comprising a button guide mounted to reciprocate longitudinally of said cone to guide the yarn thereon and having a portion thereof adapted to press lightly against the yarn on said cone, a curved surface of small radius formed on said button guide adjacent said portion to afford a point support for said yarn on said button guide, and means carried by said apparatus and positioned relative to said button guide to guide said yarn thereto in such a manher as to engage said button guide only at said point.

5. In a yarn winding apparatus, the combination with a rotating winding cone on which yarn may be wound in successive convolutions, of a traverse guide assembly comprising a button guide mounted to reciprocate longitudinally of said cone to guide the yarn thereon, said button guide being provided with a slot the base of which s formed with a curved surface of small radius positioned at the discharge end of said slot, and guide means carried'by said apparatus for di-' recting said yarn into said slot in a direction tangential to said surface so that the latter will provide a substantial point support for the yarn at the point of application thereof to the cone.

6; In a yarn winding apparatuathe combination with a rotatating winding cone on which yarn may be wound in successive convolutions,

tion with a rotating winding cone on which yarn may be wound in successive convolutions, of a traverse guide assembly comprising a button guide mounted to reciprocate longitudinally of said cone to guide the yarn thereon, a curved surface of small radius formed on said button adjacent the point of application of said yarn to said cone, 8. guide member operatively connected toand movable as a unit with said button. guide along said cone, and a small radius yarn guiding portion on said member arranged in alignment with said surface and positioned vertically relative thereto to direct said yarn toward said surface to engage the latter only at a point.

8. In a yarn winding apparatus, the combination with a rotating winding cone on which yarn may .be wound in successive convolutions, of a traverse guide assembly comprising a button guide mounted to reciprocate longitudinally of said cone to guide the yarn thereon, said button guide being provided with a slot formed with an inclined bottom, a curved surface of small radius formed on said bottom adjacent said cone, a guide member operatively connected to and movable as a unit with said button guide along said cone, an inwrmediate yarn guiding portion on said guide member, and a curved yarn supporting section formed on said intermediate portion and positioned in alignment with and slightly abovesaid surface to direct said yarn toward and in a direction tangentially of said surface so that the latter will provide a point support for said yarn adjacent said cone, said curved section being of small radius to provide substantially a point support for said yarn as it passes over said guide member.

9. In a yarn winding apparatus, the combination with a rotating winding cone on which yarn may be wound in successive convolutions, of a traverse guide assembly comprising a button guide having a face adapted to lightly engage the periphery of said cone, a button guide holder mounted for reciprocating movement on said of a traverse guide assembly comprising a button guide mounted to reciprocate longitudinally of said cone to guide the yarn thereon, a curved surface of small radius formed on said button adiacent'the point of application of said yam to said cone, a yarn guide member positioned in advance of said butto'n guide to direct said yarn thereto,- and an arcuate yarn guiding portion on said member arranged in alignment therewith and positioned relative thereto to direct said yarn to said button guide so as to engage said surface only at a point, said portion being of small radius to aflord a substantially point support for said yarn as it passes thereover.

7. In a yarn winding apparatus, the combinaapparatus to move said button guide longitudinally along said cone to feed the yarn thereonto, said button guide being formed with a slot the apex of which is positioned adjacent said face,

a curved surface of small radius formed at said apex, a yarn guide member positioned in advance of said button guide and secured to said holder so as to move across said cone as a unit with said button guide, and a small radius yarn guiding and supporting portion formed on said guide member and arranged in lateral alignment with said slot, said portion aflording substantially a point support for said yarn and being positioned slightly above said surface so as to direct said yarn in a direction tangentially of said surface so as to contact the latter at a point only adiacent said cone.

HENRY R. CHILDS. 

